Eartha Kitt biography

Eartha Kitt was born illegitimately to a white farmer and a black Cherokee mother in
the cotton fields of South Carolina. When she was eight years old she was sent to
live with her aunt in Harlem.

While in high school she became involved in the
performing arts and studied dance.

Convinced by a friend to audition for a position as a featured dancer with the
Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe, she was chosen for the spot and toured with the
company all over the world before the age of 20. While in Europe she had to fill
in for a singer during the tour and decided she liked singing more than dancing.

Upon her return to America, Kitt played a twenty-week run at the Blue Angel before
moving on to the Village Vanguard, where producer Leonard Stillman saw her and cast
her in New Faces of 1952. Her legendary performance of Monotonous stopped the
show and she continued in the role for a year on Broadway. A national tour, and the
Twentieth Century Fox film of the same name followed.

Kitt continued to work heavily on stage for the next few years, performing on many
of the world's most prestigious stages.

She has also won numerous Tony awards.

Her
stage career has been balanced with additional television, film and recording work.

Her work included the Omnibus presentation of Salome, and guest appearances on
several series including Mission Impossible, I Spy (for which she received an Emmy
Award nomination), and Batman, in which she was the infamous Catwoman. In the
'90s, Kitt also turned up in guest appearances on shows like The Nanny, Living
Single, New York Undercover and Matrix.

Her work in film includes starring opposite Tim Robbins in Erik the Viking (1989),
co-starring in Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), Boomerang (1992), Fatal Instinct (1994),
and Harriet the Spy (1996).

Concert tours have taken her through Australia and Europe several times over and
have included several performances for Queen Elizabeth.

Singing in ten different
languages, she has performed in over 100 countries worldwide and was honored in
1960 with a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame.

Kitt became a political voice when she spoke out at the White House against the
Vietnam War.

For her efforts she was rewarded by being blacklisted by the
entertainment community and was forced to work abroad for many years.

With such a talented voice, it's not surprising that she put it to good use in film
as well. She has used it in commercials for Milky Way Light, Skippy Peanut Butter
and Floor Buster.